Citizens Joined in Marine Research Venture Alongside Scripps Oceanographic Institute at Sea
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is forging a unique partnership with the International SeaKeepers Society, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the health of the world's oceans and climate. This collaboration is set to revolutionise deep-sea research, leveraging the network of private yacht owners to support scientific explorations.
Natalya Gallo, a graduate student at Scripps, is using this programme to advance her research on the ecology of deep-sea organisms, particularly focusing on the impact of declining subsurface oxygen levels off California. Her study is supported by several grants, including the Michael M. Mullin Fellowship, the Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant, and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
The collaboration works by providing Scripps researchers with access to private yachts, transforming them into innovative, mobile research platforms. The yachts, equipped with scientific instruments or sensors, enable continuous collection of environmental data such as water temperature, salinity, ocean currents, and other oceanographic parameters.
This partnership helps researchers gather ocean data over a broader geographic area and longer time periods than might be possible with traditional research vessels alone. It also promotes citizen science and stewardship among yacht owners, turning their recreational vessels into valuable contributors to scientific understanding and marine conservation.
The SeaKeepers Discovery Yachts Program, born from this collaboration, opens broad avenues of research for Scripps. In the spring, Rodney Moll, a member of San Diego Yacht Club, will deploy Gallo's nanolander and sensor package in the Scripps Coastal Reserve off La Jolla. The nanolander, named "Beebe" after 1930s deep-sea explorer William Beebe, is capable of recording data unattended on the seafloor in water as deep as 6,500 feet. The upcoming study will focus on depths between 300 and 1,200 feet.
The University of California San Diego's oceanography department is also set to expand its research fleet with the arrival of the R/V Sally Ride. This expansion will further boost the institution's capabilities in oceanographic research and exploration.
The roots of this collaboration were planted in 2011 by Patty Elkus, a Scripps Director's Council member and SeaKeepers founding member. James Cameron's deep-sea exploration instruments were developed with the help of a retired Scripps engineer, Kevin Hardy. Hardy believes that this agreement will allow for scientific hunches and technical novelty to be tested, evaluated, and improved, leading to new breakthroughs.
Bruce Appelgate, associate director of Scripps Oceanography, echoes this sentiment, expressing excitement about the prospects of the collaboration with the yachting community. Charles Scripps, great-grandson of E.W. Scripps, also shares this enthusiasm, seeing it as a throwback to Scripps's earliest days of research when scientists made full use of citizen scientists and their interests in helping the young institution in its scientific endeavors.
In conclusion, the International SeaKeepers Society acts as a bridge between the private yachting community and Scripps Oceanography, providing critical logistical support and access that enhances oceanographic research and exploration capabilities. This partnership is set to make significant strides in deep-sea research, opening up new frontiers in marine biology and climate change science.
- The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, through a partnership with the International SeaKeepers Society, is aiming to advance marine biology and climate-change research through oceanographic research.
- This collaboration is leveraging the network of private yacht owners to support scientific explorations, transforming their vessels into mobile research platforms equipped with scientific instruments and sensors.
- The partnership is promoting citizen science and stewardship among yacht owners, turning their recreational vessels into valuable contributors to scientific understanding and marine conservation.
- The SeaKeepers Discovery Yachts Program, born from this collaboration, opens broad avenues of research for Scripps, with a nanolander named "Beebe" being deployed in the Scripps Coastal Reserve off La Jolla.
- The University of California San Diego's oceanography department is expanding its research fleet with the arrival of the R/V Sally Ride, further bolstering its capabilities in oceanographic research and exploration.
- The roots of this collaboration go back to 2011, with Patty Elkus, a Scripps Director's Council member and SeaKeepers founding member, playing a significant role in its inception.
- This partnership embodies a spirit of lifelong learning, technological innovation, and sustainable living, aligning with the principles of education-and-self-development and environmental-science while also integrating with smart-home-devices, lifestyle, home-and-garden, and gadgets.
